Hip retreats we'd be jetting to—if we weren't at work and money was no object

Alladale Wilderness Reserve Lodge Wait, you haven't stayed at a bothy? Me neither, and I don't think I'll know true fulfillment until I do, now that I've seen pictures of the two new private stone guest cottages at the Alladale Lodge an hour outside Inverness. Set in a 23,000 acre reserve in the Scottish Highlands (think of the Oscar-winning The Queen's scenes at Balmoral) decorated in non-kitschy plaids and linen whites, with high performance kitchens, the cottages seem like a cool paradise very, very far from high-grime summer in the city. And can you imagine what the moor mists would do for your complexion?Alladale.com 011 863 755 338

Top 10 Chic Hotels

Top 10 Chic Hotels

The Reform Club Inn If you live in New York City and you're of the class who gets to spend the summer weekends on Long Island, you either affiliate yourself with Sag Harbor, the Hamptons, Amagansett, Montauk, North Fork, Shelter or Fire Islands. When (let's be optimistic and not say if) I'm in that income bracket, Amagansett will be my destination. The first time I went there I almost fainted, so overwhelmed was I by the stealth, tasteful, cosseted luxurious privilege of the leafy streets, stretches of preserved nature, set-back shingled houses, white sand beaches and warm oceans and bays. People get to do this every weekend?! All summer long?! So this is what my Canadian parents—who in the 1950s chose Berkeley, Calif. over Harvard for grad school—meant by the daunting "East-Coast smoothies." The new Reform Inn's seven suites and three shingled cottages seems the perfect vision for the area: artfully built by local craftsman, full of works by local painters, in mellow walking distance from train and beach and farmer's market, a zillion dollars (well, actually around $1,000) a night for unalloyed, ostentation free serenity.Reformclubinn.com 631-267-8500